Breastfeeding lowers mental health risks (The Australian)

BABIES that are breastfed for longer than six months are less likely to develop mental health problems in childhood, new research shows.

But the number of Australian mothers who feed their infants on breastmilk beyond the six-month mark falls far short of recommended national standards.

The findings are the latest to come from a ground-breaking study which tracked more than 2500 Western Australian children over the past 16 years.

Babies breastfed for less than six months had a 52 per cent increased risk of mental health problems at two years of age than those children breastfed for longer.

This risk increased to 55 per cent by the age of six and 61 per cent two years later, but had dropped to 37 per cent by age 10.



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